THOMASVILLE — Barry Bonds is no longer chasing Hank Aaron. The steroid controversy continues to chase the San Francisco slugger, however.

Despite breaking Aaron’s career home run mark of 755 on Tuesday night, Bonds continues to be overshadowed by allegations he used performing-enhancing drugs.

“I was not a fan of Barry Bonds,” longtime Atlanta Braves fan Mary Grubbs said. “I feel like, as far as I’m concerned, Hank Aaron’s record will always stand. It was done honestly and fairly.”

Tripp Brock, who grew up in Atlanta as a loyal Braves fan, added: “He’s a junkie. It’s a waist of talent for kids to look up to somebody like that. It’s just ripping off kids’ dreams.”

Bonds now owns two of the most storied records in the game. In 2001, he belted 73 home runs to break Mark McGwire’s single season mark. There are those who defend Bonds and his accomplishments, however.

“I think he deserves all the credit he gets,” Roosevelt Andrews, a diehard Braves and Aaron fan, said. “Records were made to be broken. Every game he wasn’t on steroids, he couldn’t have been.

“I think every athlete used steroids sometime in their career.”

Like Andrews, some question whether Bonds even used performance-enhancing drugs, despite his staggering stats toward the end of his career. Since 2000, Bonds, 43, has smacked 311 home runs.

“Everybody’s big now so it’s hard to tell,” Cairo sophomore football player Brian Spence said.

Former Thomasville softball player Krystal Thomas added: “There’s going to be people doubting him still.”

One of those baseball fans that doubt Bonds is Grubbs.

“I’m just not very happy over it,” Grubbs said. “Until it is proved that there was nothing to the steroids and all of that, I take no pleasure in it, whatsoever, because I was so proud of Hank Aaron. He accomplished it under extremely adverse conditions that Barry Bonds did not have to go through.”

Grubbs said she has long been a Braves fan and considers Aaron No. 1 in her book.

“I’ve always loved baseball and I’ve always loved the players who played it fairly and honestly and that had real character,” she noted. “Hank’s record is going to stand as far as I’m concerned because I know how it was won and what he had to go through to pursue that dream of his.”